One woman's stand against college athletes

The night began with alcohol, athletes and a group of freshman women. Before sunrise last Halloween, two female students would say they were sexually attacked by Marquette University athletes, touching off a crisis that quietly engulfed the school.

One of those women contacted campus security within three hours of her alleged attack — a decision that would eventually expose the school's repeated mishandling of reported sex offenses, lead to sweeping changes in the university's sexual assault policies and redefine her life in many unsettling ways.

Yet the woman returned to the Milwaukee university for her sophomore year this semester, despite her parents' unyielding protests. She decided she was willing to endure the whispers for the rest of her college career, if it meant a chance to prove her resilience to the athletic department and ensure that the Jesuit university lived up to its promised reforms.

Breaking her silence for the first time since reporting her allegations a year ago, the woman, now 19, said she agreed to share her story in an effort to help other women at Marquette.

"It was a traumatizing experience that I would not wish on my worst enemy," she said. "I realize that the majority of people this happens to don't do anything about it because they're scared. … But I wanted to do something so that maybe it would happen to one less girl and to let these guys know that they're not invincible."

She told the Tribune she was forced to perform a sex act on an athlete that night and minutes later was locked in a bedroom with three other athletes. Though she acknowledges only an alcohol-blurred memory of the later incident, she told police the athletes passed her around the room while she was instructed to touch them sexually and one put his hand down her pants.

She knew about the second alleged victim — whose allegation is mentioned in police reports but was never disclosed to the public — and respected her wishes not to tell campus security.

The woman's account and the revelation of a second possible attack at the Halloween weekend party raise fresh questions about the university's response to alleged sex crimes and whether the school squelched information to shield its athletic program.

But more than that, the woman's experience demonstrates just how difficult it is to accuse campus celebrities of sexual violence. In the year since, the woman's name has been leaked to the news media, she has been pressured by the athletes to recant her story and she has become an outcast among some of her closest friends.

"I think that when something happens like this, as hard as it is to be upfront and honest about it, you have to because there are so many other people it can affect," she said. "I keep thinking, 'What if the girl before me had gone and talked to the police and (campus security)?' Then I wouldn't have to go through this."

The woman remains in counseling. And the athletes still enrolled at the school must adhere to a no-contact order enforced by administrators. Still, her parents fear for her safety and emotional well-being as she is forced to make new friends and a new name for herself on campus.

"She wants to put this behind her," her father said. "But she's fighting an uphill battle, and she knows it. They don't care about her. They care about the players."

All were disciplined

All told, five Marquette athletes were accused in sexual attacks last school year by three female students. University officials have said the athletes all were punished for breaking the student code of conduct and team rules, and none was barred from competition due to the allegations.

"Marquette administrators clearly thought the law was that you protect your (athletes) if they're having a good year," said Bob Baizer, a lawyer for one of the women.

The Tribune is not identifying the two women from the Halloween weekend party, who are both from suburban Chicago, because they are alleged victims of sexual violence. The newspaper is not naming the players because they have not been charged with crimes.

L. Christopher Miller, Marquette's vice president for student affairs, has acknowledged that school officials made mistakes but denied those errors stemmed from a desire to protect athletes.

"Their status does not come into play in any way," he said. "They are, in fact, investigated, there are hearings and there are sanctions that are levied. And they are absolutely consistent throughout the campus, regardless of what the student's participation in any kind of co-curricular activity may be."

Miller declined to discuss specific outcomes, saying only that all the athletes were disciplined. A source close to one of the accused said the athlete was required to write a paper as part of his punishment.

The 19-year-old woman told police that three of the players were found responsible for "harassment" after the administrative hearing. She said a fourth athlete was found responsible for "sexual assault," but he appealed and the finding was reduced to harassment.

The allegation

Around 10 p.m. Oct. 30, the woman said, she and four friends went to a party at Humphrey Hall, an apartment-style dormitory where many athletes live.

One of the woman's friends told police she became uncomfortable as the night wore on. The friend said an athlete poured alcohol into cups for the women and called them "big girl shots." She told police that athletes were "dancing inappropriately" and that she overheard one say, "We're (going to have sex with) these bitches tonight."

At some point that night, the 19-year-old woman said, one athlete trapped her in a bedroom before grabbing her by the ears and forcing her to perform a sex act, police records show. The athlete told police the sex was consensual.

After leaving the room, the woman encountered another athlete who gave her two more shots of alcohol and started dancing with her. Minutes later, the woman went to a different bedroom with three other athletes. She recalled one slamming the door shut in the face of a friend who was worried about her safety. A second athlete put her hand in his pants, and another put his hand inside her pants, according to her statement to police and school officials.

She recalled that the encounter ended when a friend found another athlete to unlock the door, records show. The 19-year-old woman said she was slumped down in a chair with her pants undone and an athlete standing over her when her friend entered the room.

When the woman shared her account with campus security officers, they discouraged her from going to Milwaukee police by telling her the allegations would draw news media attention, she said.

But after becoming disappointed with how Marquette handled the allegations, she talked to police March 22.

"My only regret is that I didn't go sooner," she said. "If I had gone sooner, the outcome may have been totally different. It's something I think about a lot."

The athletes told police the woman had followed them into the bedroom when they went to switch songs on an iPod. She began dancing suggestively with them, they said.

The athletes denied having inappropriate sexual contact with the woman and said they never stopped her from leaving, according to police records. None of the athletes could recall how the bedroom door became locked. The teammate who unlocked the door did not return phone calls from a detective, records show.

The second case

During their investigation, police interviewed a witness who told them that a second freshman was allegedly assaulted at the same party, documents show. The witness said she found that woman sitting on a bedroom floor "looking shocked and overwhelmed" with her shirt open, according to the police report.

The woman told the witness that after willingly entering the bedroom, she had been forced to perform a sex act on an athlete, the report stated.

When interviewed by police, the woman indicated she did not want to press charges and said she was satisfied with how Marquette security officers handled her complaint.

"She began to tear up and look away," a police officer wrote. "She stated something happened to her at Humphrey Hall, but she refused to discuss it."

The woman confirmed to the Tribune the accuracy of the officer's report and the witness' statement but declined to elaborate. She said she first spoke to campus security in November, when she was interviewed as a witness in the 19-year-old woman's case.

Miller, the university vice president, said both women were offered an array of services, including assistance from Milwaukee police, a local sexual assault treatment center, a mental health counselor and campus ministry.

Though the second woman did not want to press charges, Marquette officials were obligated to notify Milwaukee police under a Wisconsin law that requires campus security departments to report possible crimes to authorities. In June, the Tribune reported that the university had been violating its reporting requirements since its security department was licensed 10 years earlier. Officials declined to say how many cases were kept from police.

Errors in judgment

In addition to mistakes by campus security, Marquette administrators have acknowledged that the athletic department reacted inappropriately to the initial accusation.

The school has publicly criticized an Oct. 31 meeting between coaches and athletes, shortly after the first woman made her allegations. Prosecutors said they had no evidence that coaches intentionally interfered with the investigation but said the gathering offered an opportunity for the athletes to compare stories before detectives had a chance to question them independently.

One athlete sent a text message to the woman during the meeting, asking if she had made a report to security, authorities have said. Another called her with similar questions, according to the police report.

Mike Broeker, acting athletic director, told the Tribune that coaches met with players after campus security notified the athletic department of the woman's report. Calling it a "severe error in judgment," he said the department is changing how it responds when athletes are in trouble.

When the school held an administrative hearing on the woman's allegations in January, defense lawyer Gerald Boyle, an alumnus and well-known Golden Eagles fan, represented the four athletes during the proceeding. Boyle's firm also had represented basketball coach Brent "Buzz" Williams in a speeding ticket case last year, court records show. Boyle did not respond to requests for comment.

The athletes either declined to comment or did not return messages.

The entire matter remained a guarded secret until the woman filed her report with police. By that time, however, too much time had elapsed to conduct a proper investigation, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said.

The Tribune reported in June that women who allege sexual violence on college campuses seldom see their accused attackers arrested and almost never see them convicted. In a survey of six Illinois and Indiana universities, the Tribune found that police investigated 171 reported sex crimes since fall 2005, with 12 resulting in arrests and four in convictions. Only one conviction stemmed from a student-on-student attack, the most common type of assault.

'They've done enough'

As security officers predicted, the woman's allegations became national news. Though her name has not been reported in the mainstream media, journalists and students quickly learned of her identity.

She felt a backlash almost immediately. Reporters called her family, and Marquette-centric blogs ridiculed her. Some friends were angry with her for going to police and putting their social status in jeopardy, she said. The student she planned to room with decided to find other living arrangements.

Two of her four friends who attended the party refused to cooperate with the criminal investigation.

The isolation she felt on campus after the alleged attack peaked after the basketball team received an invitation to the NCAA tournament. Seemingly everywhere she went on campus, students were wearing Golden Eagles T-shirts. Her residence hall floor was decorated with blue-and-gold streamers. When students gathered to watch the games, she stayed alone in her dorm room.

Still, the woman said she never regretted going to police. If she had kept quiet, the school's flawed security procedures almost certainly would be intact today. University officials said they were unaware they were violating the law until they met with law enforcement officials after the woman made her report to police.

Her report also led another student to file a police report, accusing a fifth athlete of raping her in February. In an interview with the Tribune in June, that student said Marquette officers and administrators had discouraged her from going to police.

That woman also said she felt undermined by a university determined to protect its reputation and athletic program.

Marquette's athletic director resigned to "pursue other interests" amid questions about the university's handling of the accusations. The university has announced changes in how it will handle sexual misconduct reports. Security officers will now inform those who report crimes that their case will be forwarded to police, though they also will be told they have a choice of whether to speak to authorities.

Marquette officials planned to form a team of advisers and victims' advocates — who don't work at the university — to help students decide how best to proceed with their cases. All athletes were required to attend sexual violence awareness training at the beginning of the school year, a university spokeswoman said.

The Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, who became Marquette's president in August, wrote to students in September about the university's sexual assault initiatives. Pilarz said he also asked three intercollegiate athletics leaders from around the country to review Marquette's sports program, "including the culture of athletics on campus."

The 19-year-old woman said she's taking a wait-and-see approach.

"The university made mistakes, and I live with that every day," she said. "But I think they really are trying to do better. I was skeptical about their efforts initially, but now I have more hope than I did a few months ago. Time will tell."

In the meantime, she's rediscovering her affection for the campus and has no intention of leaving Marquette.

"I don't want them — the university and the (athletes) — to know that they got to me," she said. "They've done enough to me already. I'm not going to give them this."